


Gifts for the giving

by anyanka_eg



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-11
Updated: 2010-03-11
Packaged: 2017-10-07 21:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anyanka_eg/pseuds/anyanka_eg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John brings Rodney a gift that has unexpected consequences</p>
            </blockquote>





	Gifts for the giving

John didn't normally do this type of thing. He'd already known he was completely screwed, nursing a crush on a man who was as straight as straight could be, but this was a new low, even for him. Grown men didn't buy their male friends gifts like this, not even when there was an excuse like a birthday or Christmas. They certainly didn't just bring stuff like this back from their enforced trip to Earth as if it was something as simple and fun as a remote controlled car or a Doctor Who dvd.

It had seemed like a such good idea at the time though. He had been stuck in the hotel in Colorado with nothing to read, leafing through the copy of Everyday with Rachel Ray that Sergeants Markez and Collins asked him to bring back. He was fairly certain that he'd be eating some of the recipes in the mess thanks to Markez, but he was equally certain Colins' interest in Rachel Ray didn't have anything to do with her cooking. He really wasn't going to think about how they were going to share the magazine, he just hoped Markez washed his hands before he cooked anything if Collins got to it first.

John was pretty sure boredom must have addled his brain because he'd seen the bottle advertised in the magazine and been on the Internet ordering it before he'd really considered what he was doing. It was so perfect for Rodney that it seemed natural to buy it for him. It was only now that he was standing outside his friend's door, clutching a bottle of shower gel that he thought he'd maybe made an error.

The door slid open with the accompaniment of Rodney snapping "are you coming in or are you just going to loiter out there ringing the chime like a demented campanologist?"

"Huh?" John replied intelligently.

"A bell ringer," Rodney explained superfluously, because John knew what a campanologist was, he just hadn't been ringing the chime as far as he knew.

"I wasn't," John started, still standing at the door because his body was trying to tell his brain to run away and hide the gift.

"Never mind," Rodney interrupted, grabbing John's elbow and steering him into the room. "How was your vacation?"

"It wasn't a vacation," John corrected automatically, slightly annoyed that Rodney still thought that his bi-yearly debrief with Landry was some kind of picnic.

"And yet you still managed to go shopping," Rodney pointed out, nodding at the bag John was clutching defensively. "What did you get me?"

"Who says I got you anything?" John argued, even though he knew it was pretty obvious he had something for the scientist.

"Because you always bring me something," Rodney said, sounding baffled that John would even pretend to not have gotten him a present.

John blinked because Rodney had noticed he'd been acting like a giant freak for years but didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with it. In fact he seemed to see a gift as his due, which was so very McKay that John grinned and handed over the bag before he could over think it.

"Wash with Joe?" the scientist questioned, glancing at the label on the bottle. "Who the hell is Joe?"

"Not who. What," John explained, suddenly terrified again that he'd done something really dumb. "It's shower gel made with real coffee."

"Huh," Rodney grunted, looking back at the label and reading the ingredients.

"And mint," John added, feeling the sudden urge to fill the weird silence that was expanding into the room. "It smells really good."

"The nights on earth must have flown by, imagining me using this," Rodney said dryly, obviously teasing him.

"Jesus, McKay," John exclaimed, trying to sound like he thought Rodney was an ungrateful asshole rather than the object of his nightly fantasies. He realized he'd failed when the teasing smirk slid off Rodney's face.

"Oh," Rodney said quietly, and John turned on his heel to leave because even he knew that the correct social convention for accidentally admitting to having a crush on your best friend was to run away. He didn't get far because Rodney's reflexes were sharper than he'd bargained for and he found himself brought up short by a door that was suddenly locked.

"Oh no you don't," Rodney said, sounding incredibly pissed off.

God, he'd fucked up spectacularly this time. He wanted to go and hide, for maybe about a decade, until he could forget the shocked expression on his friend's face. There was no way he was going to turn round to speak to Rodney now because he couldn't stand the idea of even more of his emotions leaking out. He'd just say how sorry he was and make what ever promises Rodney needed to hear facing the door.

"Rodney, I won't..." he started, not really knowing where he was going to end up.

"Won't what?" Rodney demanded, interrupting John before he could work out the end of his sentence. "Won't speak? Won't look at me? Won't let yourself have what you want?"

John whirled round at that. He knew he should say something but he was pretty certain he'd gone mad. Or deaf. Or maybe both. He supposed he could be having a really vivid dream and he was about to wake up alone in his bunk on the Daedalus. If that was true, he was kind of hoping it wouldn't happen until after dream Rodney threw him on the bed and fucked him senseless.

"You know, I used to think I was an emotional cripple until I met you," Rodney said, conversationally as he stepped closer to John. "You really are a moron."

John didn't have time to object to being insulted before Rodney's hand slid warm and heavy around the back of his neck and he was being pulled into a kiss. Later, when he could think straight, he was grateful his body seemed to know what he wanted because his brain seemed to be stuck in a loop of 'wait, what, huh!'

The kiss was wet and messy and all kinds of desperate. Rodney's hand was firm at the back of his head, the thumb stroking through the short hair at the nape of his neck, and John's knees were turning to liquid with each sweep of the pad. John clutched at Rodney's t-shirt, too frantic to even get his hands under it.

Rodney slid the hand on John's neck down his back and brought his other hand into play. John would have been all for an increased hand to body ratio but Rodney was still holding the bottle of shower gel and being clonked on the head jarred him back to reality.

He pulled away from Rodney, hands still fisted into his t-shirt, and blinked into gently smiling blue eyes. He knew he was supposed to say something, tell Rodney that he was a genius for figuring him out when even he didn't really understand himself, but all he managed to say was "Um?"

Rodney grinned at him, shaking his head slightly in fond exasperation, before taking his hand and leading him towards the bathroom. When John hesitated slightly Rodney just waved the bottle at him.

"Come on, I want to wash with Joe and John."

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I thought of this after flicking through Everyday with Rachel Ray and finding this **[](http://pics.livejournal.com/anyanka_eg/pic/00079f31/)** It can be bought from [luckyscent.com](http://www.luckyscent.com/shop/section/4/item/47300/brand/Wash%20with%20Joe/Coffee_Mint_Body_Wash.html) Obviously I thought about washing with The Flan and then realized it was made with coffee and knew it would be the perfect gift for Rodney and then this fic happened.  


End file.
